Don't forget Pueblo's missing soldiers

Friday

Mar 22, 2019 at 4:41 PMMar 22, 2019 at 4:41 PM

I wish to bring to the public eye the plight of all POW/MIA’s and Pueblo’s own missing soldiers. Another Puebloan, Chief Warrant Officer Lester Alan Hansen’s story was compiled from one or more of the following: Raw data from United States government agency sources, correspondence with POW/MIA families, published sources, interviews and last updated by the P.O.W. Network in 1998.

Hansen was the pilot of a UH1C helicopter on a reconnaissance team insertion mission on August 13, 1969. The team was to be inserted at a landing zone in southern Kontum Province, South Vietnam at a point where the Sang Sung River turns sharply to the east.

As the helicopter approached the landing zone in the lead position, it was struck with small arms fire and crashed. Another helicopter in the flight immediately responded and began extracting the crew. Small arms fire caused the rescue helicopter to take off early and Hansen was not able to get aboard.

However, he did grab the skid, but as the aircraft gained altitude, Hansen was unable to maintain his grip and fell about 100 to 500 feet. Extensive air and ground searches were conducted for the next four days without revealing any trace of Hansen. He was listed missing in action.

Hansen's family knew there was a possibility that he had survived to be captured and waited for the war to end. When the war ended and 591 Americans were released from communist prison camps, Hansen was not among them. He was one of roughly 3,000 Americans who were not accounted for.

Fifty years after he fell from the helicopter skids, the number of missing has decreased due to the return of remains and resolution of cases to 1,590 at the publication of this article. Hansen has never been found. While the number of men missing has decreased, an alarming increase in reports has escaped Vietnam of Americans still alive and captive there. Authorities believe that there are hundreds of Americans still prisoner.

Whether Hansen is among them is unknown. What is certain, however, is that if there is even one American being held against his will, we owe him our best efforts to bring him home.

The problem of Americans still missing torments not only the families of those who are missing, but the men who fought by their sides and those, like myself in the general public, who realize the full implication of leaving men unaccounted for at the end of a war. Tragically, many authorities believe there are hundreds of Americans still alive in captivity in Southeast Asia today.

What must they be thinking of us? What will our next generation say if called to fight if we are unable to bring these men home? Please don’t forget Pueblo’s own POW/MIAs. Help us build a POW/MIA memorial for these heroes and their families, a place where they can reflect and perhaps gain a bit of closure.

A memorial, along with the four Medal of Honor statues will only increase the allure of the Historic Arkansas Riverwalk of Pueblo. To make a tax-deductible donation, call me at 289-1211.

Butch Chavez is the founder of the Pueblo POW/MIA Memorial.

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